Stop This Torture
by ShiguraSohmaTheYearOfTheDog
Summary: Neku is a cuddly fluff of emo, Joshua is a syringe filled with truth serum. One crumbling pair of headphones and one Game later... shonen-ai
1. First Meeting

Teehee~ Oh, man, Nom's gonna kill me XD

Anyway, in case you didn't notice, this is a NekuxJoshua shonen-ai fanfiction, because I'm too young to do the hardcore stuff! It's not really fluffy, but it's not exactly angst either (excluding Neku's emo). I hope you enjoy this!

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Neku's left headphone was beginning to crackle with each hit of the bass drum. _Damn,_ Neku thought, as he pulled off his headphones to examine the personal speaker. This was his fourth pair of headphones he'd gone through in a year, and he wasn't looking forward to buying new ones. Suddenly, like an unexpected gust of wind, words, sound, noises and the like came rushing forth into his eardrums, making them ring with pain and discomfort. He needed the silence. He needed something he wanted to listen to. This…this was too much to bear. He quickly placed the headphones back on his ears. But the crackle was almost as annoying as the murmurings of Shibuya, so he turned his music off. Lonesome silence was better than annoying comfort.

Neku looked down as he crossed the street, heading towards WildKat. Whenever he decided to buy some clothes from J-M, or pick up some new tunes at Towa Records, he'd stop by WildKat for a "cuppa Joe" or something, like the owner said. Of course, he never took anyone else's advice except his own, so Neku would buy some donuts and be on his way. This time, Neku chose to sit-in, seeing that he had no rush to go anywhere, and the streets were currently being poured on by truckloads of rain.

"Hey, boss," the man at the counter said.

"Yo, uhm, can I get two muffins?" Neku asked casually.

"Make that three," another voice said. It echoed from the corner of the café. An older woman? No, a kid, maybe around his age. Neku turned to see a boy with dull blonde hair and a smirk that could mean anything.

"No problem, Josh," the owner said.

"Oh, Sanae, I was supposed to be incognito. Ah, well. I would've told you my name anyway." The other boy stuck his hand out to Neku. "Hi, I'm Yoshiya Kiryu, but my parents call me Joshua."

_Hi, loser,_ Neku thought. He stared at Joshua's hand.

Joshua giggled. "You're supposed to shake it, silly."_ Damn, this kid won't leave. _Neku sighed, not wanting to have to make more than the necessary amount of human interaction. _Oh, well. Might as well 'be nice'._ Neku let his left hand slide into Joshua's, and moved it up, then down, in a very short amount of time. The brief contact seemed to please Joshua, though, as the smirk held its place, maybe even grew wider.

"Joshua, don't make him do anything he doesn't want to do," Sanae intervened, "Don't wanna scare off my customers."

Joshua replied, "But, of course." Joshua bowed deeply to Neku, who made a face that screamed "WTF", and he giggled at his reaction. "See you around, Neku." And with one fluid motion out the door, Joshua was gone.

Neku stared through the glass of the window, stunned by this strange boy and his strange actions, not to mention that bizarre giggle of his. Neku wore his headphones as a warning, meant to say "back off because I'm not listening." Most of the time it had worked, except for the few minutes of interaction between the two boys. Was his caution sign being ignored? Or did Neku seem more approachable? His headphones period of defectiveness must've had a 'positive' effect on his aura. Still, there was something strange about the Kiryu boy that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Did Neku even tell the kid what his name was?

"Hey, Phones, you gonna eat your three donuts or what?"

That was the first time Neku had met Joshua.

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Fufufufufu, R&R por favor! (So I know if I should just keep pointlessly posting these)


	2. Mr Hanekoma: A Witness

This is a short chapter from Mr. Hanekoma's POV, just to fill in the time between the first meeting and the final confrontation of Joshua and Neku, and to possibly clarify a bit of things. Bwah, I still haven't collected all the secret reports, but the ones I currently have are pretty useful (so is Wikipedia 8D). I LOVE YOU GUYS WHO REVIEWED. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

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I had watched calmly as Joshua introduced himself to his proxy. It wasn't hard; Joshua had left before the boy could explode. Joshua did have a tendency to annoy the crap out of people until they couldn't handle him anymore. I barely meddled during the meeting; any other day, I'd make a major interference of some sort, but this time, I decided against it, as the proxy's reactions were entirely worth it. I watched the boy, Neku, I think his name was, seethe with annoyance. It was kind of funny watching him, knowing his fate.

Prior to the meeting of the Composer and the Composer's proxy, Joshua had announced his plans for the UG. I myself wasn't at all surprised. After all, Joshua was the man in charge, and he did have an affinity to play Games. He knew he had picked the right kid to be his proxy. I agreed with the inability to contradict his selection, because I, too, knew Neku would be able to single-handedly protect Shibuya, despite the rules of the Game that stated otherwise. I could tell just by looking at Neku that he was struggling inside, struggling to get his way, to get everyone to shut up and leave him alone. Neku lived under my motto, "Enjoy every moment with everything you got," but I knew it was difficult for him to live like that with his specific mindset of closing himself off to the world, the world that would enable him to grow and truly enjoy the moment.

I just hope this kid gets something out of this.


	3. Joshua: Unexpected Broadcast

Yes, I'm actually updating. This is a milestone for me, as I tend to procrastinate, as I am doing now with my homework.

Anyywayyyy, this chapter is in Joshua POV, again, to clarify meetings and motives. Buu, I heart Joshua...don't really know why though.

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Of course there was nothing wrong with Neku's headphones, but you'd want to see your very-own hand-picked proxy before you entrusted him with such a divine duty. And what better way to get a socially-enclosed, music-loving boy to pay attention by taking away his music?

In my phosphorescent form, I floated above Shibuya, _my_ Shibuya, and I closed my eyes, listening to the music, hidden well within the noisy, bustling city below. Amnesia was playing, one of my favorite songs. It was tranquil and serene, yet it seemed to hide away an uneasy truth about the world, like a time of peace before the apocalypse. Perhaps, more like the last chance at enjoying life before breaking free from all that was certain and tangible.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted, as if I were scanning someone.

_I'd hate to admit this to anyone other than myself…_ My eyes widened in realization as I dropped lower into the city, searching for the source of the thoughts. _I just don't get them…other people. To me, they're all a bunch of low-lives who will never understand me, all of them will never be able to get inside my world, and frankly, I don't want anyone one in it…but, I am terribly lonely. What is this feeling? Is it really loneliness? I hate to admit it, but…I really do wish I could meet someone who could understand me, who could really see who I am, without me having to show the whole world and wait for someone to come along and pity me, then to take me in. No, I want a real friend…_

If I didn't know any better, I'd be looking frantically everywhere for the source of the sonnet, but I did know better, and I immediately knew that my Proxy was the speaker, making notes in his subconscious mind, as he walked across Cat Street into the Producer's café. He also had thought that lonesome silence was better than annoying comfort. Oh, how wrong and oblivious he was to the real truth.

I floated down into the corner of the café, tuned down my frequency, and became Yoshiya Kiryu, the blond, happy fifteen-year-old I liked to pretend to be. Upon solidifying, my Proxy had just ordered. Seeing this as a way to intervene, I added upon his order. I was there to prove he would soon find my annoyance quite comforting, and to prove he would soon have real friends. Cue 'my interview with the future'.

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I like constructive critisism, but I don't expect it, so just review however you like. (When I write this, I feel formal...)


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